


You'll Be Okay In The End

by Chimera Manticore (chimeral_colors)



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, IPRE, IPRE Era, M/M, Taagnus implied I guess, but you could figure that out from the first sentence, fuck your spoiler warnings, taako dies at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 18:15:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11236500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chimeral_colors/pseuds/Chimera%20Manticore





	You'll Be Okay In The End

Magnus finds Taako as he’s already bleeding out.

The elf is curled up in the corner of the cave, crying quietly. He’d been separated from the rest of the group in an ambush by unfriendly natives, and Magnus was sent to go find him. The spear is still stuck in his side. Magnus had found him too late.

He rushes over to Taako’s side, lifting his head gently so they can see each other. Taako only seems to notice Magnus’s presence now, and wipes away a tear. He reaches out with some effort and takes Magnus’s hand in his.

“T-tell everyone else I’m okay,” he says. He doesn’t look at Magnus, rather stares at their intertwined hands. He feels ashamed, feels like a coward. He lets himself get separated from the group and then doesn’t even want his friends to know what happened to him. What an idiot. Taako pushes those thoughts aside and instead focuses on their hands. Hides his shame in them.

“I… I’ll tell them I couldn’t find you,” Magnus tells Taako, looking down as well. Taako nods sadly. They sit in silence for a moment.

“I’m sorry,” Magnus whispers. Taako looks up at him.

“What? Why?”

“I didn’t- I couldn’t help.”

“Pobody’s nerfect, Maggie.” Magnus chuckles and strokes Taako’s thumb gently. He knows they’re wasting time, and he knows Taako knows it too. But he has a feeling he’d rather be here wasting time than just leaving Taako. And then, as if Taako read his thoughts, he says,

“Don’t… don’t leave me here like this.”

“I won’t,” Magnus tells him. “I’ll be here with you.”

“N-no, Maggie, I…” Taako tries to sit up more, but gives up after feeling the spear in him again. “I want you to… y’know. I just don’t want it to be slow.” Magnus swallows dryly when he realizes what’s being requested of him. He lets go of Taako’s hand-

“I-I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” he starts. “You’re… I can’t just kill you!”

“Magnus, I’m… I don’t… How do I put this? I don’t wanna be left alone to die some slow, painful death, Maggie. I… Please. Just.. do this for me. I wouldn’t ask anyone else to do this. I trust you. Please. Please.” He’s holding Magnus’s hand again, tightly. He looks up at him, desperation in his eyes.

Magnus has never seen Taako desperate before. He’s seen puppy-dog eyes when Taako’s trying to get a piggy-back ride out of him; he’s seen lust and hate and even fear. Never desperation. He’s never seen Taako ask him to let him die. He never thought he would.

But here they are.

Magnus swallows again, letting Taako go and reaching for his axe.

“You owe me the biggest fucking one,” he says.

“I know, I know, I know,” Taako replies. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Magnus.” He’s crying again, and Magnus has to blink back a few tears himself. “I just don’t wanna do this anymore.”

The IPRE has been through sixty cycles together. They’ve visited sixty different worlds. They’ve found sixty different cultures and languages and people and animals and lives. They’ve seen sixty different realities and they know they’re bound to see many more. And within those sixty cycles have been many, many deaths.

Merle’s probably died the most; ever since he learned Parley, he’s devoted his cycles to speaking with the Hunger and dying every time. Lup has had her fair share of deaths, some of which came from recklessness and some from heroism. Magnus dies usually of some sort of accident- a boulder falling on top of him during an avalanche when no one else was hurt, accidentally inhaling poisonous spores, a bomb originally thought to have been a dud going off while he’d been holding it. Even the more cautious of the group- Lucretia, Barry, and Davenport- have all died a number of times.

Taako _always_ died slowly. Whether it was an illness that ravaged his body over the course of months, or separation, abandonment, and eventual starvation, or from bleeding out in a cave because some jackass stabbed him with a spear… It was always slow, and it was usually alone. If he could have just a quick death for once rather than have it be dragged out as long as fucking possible… Gods, it just got to him.

Taako notices Magnus hesitate as he brings the axe over his head.

“Hey,” he says. Magnus looks down at him. “We’re gonna be okay. Alright?” Magnus smiles a little.

“Yeah,” he replies. “Hopefully that’s soon.”

The world is a fucked up place. People live and people die. People live without living, and people die without ever knowing what life is supposed to be like. Some people only know the worst parts of life and believe there’s nothing good about it, where some people who only know the pleasures of life never understand the rest of the story. Some people are dicks, and some people are gifts. Life never makes sense, and life is always changing. Nothing is ever certain except for one thing- things will be okay in the end.

As Magnus swings his axe down onto Taako’s head, Taako can only hope the same goes for him and his friends.


End file.
